The present invention relates to holders for electrical plugs and electrical cords of the type which are mounted proximate to an electrical outlet. The holders may be used to store an electrical plug after it has been removed from an outlet, and may also be used to store an electrical cord attached to the plug.
In many instances it is desirable to remove an electric plug from an electrical outlet when an electrical appliance is not in use. For example, it may be desirable to remove the plug from the outlet to prevent the potential danger of electrical fires or of electrical overloading of circuits. Unattended younger children may tend to play with the plug. Moreover, because a residence or business premise generally has only a limited number of electrical outlets at predetermined locations, it is not uncommon that the number of electrical appliances run from the outlets exceeds the number of outlets, thereby requiring one appliance to be unplugged before a different appliance may be plugged into the outlet.
When an appliance is unplugged from an outlet, it is desirable that the plug be stored close to the outlet for future use. However, merely laying the plug next to the outlet can present several dangers. People, and in particular small children, may be injured as a result of tripping over loose electrical cord. Additionally, an unused electric plug lying near an electrical outlet may pose a danger by attracting younger children who might tend to play with the plug or the outlet, possibly causing injury to themselves.
Devices for storing electrical plugs or electrical cords close to an electrical outlet are generally known to the prior art. However, the known devices each have distinct disadvantages. The following is a discussion of typical prior art devices illustrative of the state of the art:
U.S. Pat. No. 3,331,915 discloses a pair of plug holders mounted proximate to an electrical outlet. Each of the plug holders is adapted to loosely receive and store one prong from an electric plug when the electric plug is not inserted into the outlet.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,722,843 discloses an "L" shaped apertured bracket through which an electrical cord passes. The apertures are smaller than the dimensions of the plug attached to the end of the cord to prevent removal of the fixture attached to the electrical cord.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,702,709 discloses a retaining bracket or clip mounted proximate to an electrical outlet. The electrical cord may be tied around the bracket when the plug is inserted into the outlet to prevent the plug from being inadvertently disengaged from the outlet as a result of pulling forces on the end of the electrical cord remote from the plug. This patent additionally discloses a plate which is selectively slideable over the electrical outlet to shield the same when the outlet is not in use. However, the slide plate would appear to be relatively complicated and expensive because it must be precisely mounted so that openings in the plate are aligned with the outlet openings in one position but are out of alignment in a second position. Moreover, a user is required to remove a retaining bar and exert a force on a bracket to slide the plate out of alignment with the outlet openings when it is desired to cover the outlet.
U.S. Pat. No. 2,943,138 generally discloses an outwardly extending slotted bracket mounted proximate to an electrical outlet for loosely storing an electrical plug when it is not in use, or for storing an electrical cord by wrapping it around a bracket. The stored electric plug is only loosely supported from its bottom surface. Similarly, Swiss Patent No. 246,366 and Norwegian Patent No. 78,595 disclose storage devices for electrical plugs in which the plugs are loosely supported only from their underside.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,285,486 discloses a holder for an electrical cord in which the electrical plug attached to the cord loosely dangles beneath the holder. Similarly, U.S. Pat. No. 3,113,996 discloses a "J" shaped bracket extending downwardly from an electrical outlet for loosely supporting an article such as a coiled electric extension cord.
U.S. Pat. No. 2,084,953 and Des. 275,175 generally disclose electrical cord holders in the form of spring loops or retainer clips mounted proximate to an electrical outlet.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,339,045 discloses an article holder mounted close to a wall switch. The holder is adapted to store articles such as a key ring and the like.
Finally, U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,293,173 and 2,728,894 generally disclose shields or outlet protectors which are intended to be inserted into electrical outlets as safety closures when the outlets are not in use.
It is apparent from the above discussion of the prior art that the known devices for storing electrical plugs proximate to electrical outlets do not provide means for securely storing and retaining the plugs when they are not in use. The illustrative examples of the prior art disclose devices which are capable of only loosely storing and retaining electrical plugs. Additionally, none of the above discussed prior art discloses a storage holder for an electrical plug which is capable of separately and individually storing an electrical cord attached to a plug, either when the plug itself is being stored or when the plug is inserted into an electrical outlet. Furthermore, none of the prior art discloses use of a protective outlet cover mounted to a plug and cord storage holder proximate to an electrical outlet such that the protective shield may be readily inserted into an unused and exposed electrical outlet when the plug and electrical cord are stored in the holder.
It is an object of the present invention to overcome the disadvantages of the prior art discussed above. Other objects and advantages of the invention will become apparent from the following description.